Improving international standards on vented hydrogen explosions

Gexcon a company in the CMR Group, coordinates the EU-funded project HySEA. The main purpose of the project is to conduct pre-normative research on vented hydrogen deflagrations in containers and smaller enclosures, with an aim to improve international standards.

21.09.2016 by Gunn Janne Myrseth

Gexcon hosted the Second Progress meeting in the HySEA project in Bergen on 6-7 September. Members of the HySEA Consortium and the HySEA Advisory Board, as well as invited modellers from other organizations, were invited to witness live demonstrations of full-scale explosion experiments in 20-ft. ISO containers on the Gexcon test site at Sotra on Thursday 8 September. Results from a blind-prediction modelling exercise were presented during the First HySEA Workshop on Friday 9 September.

The call that resulted in the HySEA project pointed out that existing standards for explosion venting rely on empirical correlations derived from experiments in empty enclosures. However, containers and smaller enclosures used in actual industrial systems normally contain equipment such as compressors, storage vessels, reformers, instrumentation, piping and pipe supports, etc. The presence of these geometrical obstacles can have profound influence on the flame propagation, and hence pressure build-up and structural response. Improved models for predicting the consequences of vented hydrogen deflagrations are therefore essential for safe implementation of hydrogen as an environment-friendly energy carrier.

The HySEA project receives funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 671461. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and Norway.